To Muzzle or not to Muzzle

Last week, me and Ben met my friend with Robert, the Westie for an early morning walk. It is getting much lighter in the mornings now and we have noticed that more dog walkers are out with their dogs. On this particular walk, we saw a lady walking a spaniel, now spaniels are a breed that Ben never seems to like and he always reacts. I recalled Ben and put him on lead and we gave the owner and the spaniel a wide berth. Ben growled as the spaniel came too close. We walked past as fast as we could. Further on in the walk, where there is a hill leading to a corner Ben suddenly barked and dashed off, it turned out the spaniel was there again. Luckily it was too fast for Ben but I think he would have pinned it down if he had caught it. My heart dropped in my chest and I think my friends did too.

So this got me thinking whether I should just walk Ben on the street on his lead and not take him to off lead areas where other dogs could be. This made me feel sad as Ben enjoys his off lead walks having a sniff around and doing what dogs do basically! He also eats other dog poo on walks which drives me mad. Another consideration is the new dog law in the UK, which basically means that Ben could get reported just for making someone concerned that he could hurt there dog. I could not bare it if he was reported. I therefore made the decision to re-introduce the muzzle to Ben and have him wear it at all times on walks, on lead and off lead. I got some squeezy cheese from the supermarket which he loves and I have been giving him the cheese when he has the muzzle on. It was the third day today where he wore the muzzle and his first time off lead with it. He tried to rub it off at the beginning of the walk but he soon gave up with that and seemed to enjoy the walk sniffing around and running about with Robert (Westie). He kept coming to me for the cheese too which I was really pleased with.

There are a few other benefits to the muzzle, he cannot eat other dog poo, other dog owners are more wary of him and it helps me to feel more confident and relax more. When I feel guilty about him wearing it, I just remind myself how I would feel if he was reported to the council and was ordered to be kept on lead at all times.

Just to conclude, if you need to muzzle your dog, the best type of muzzle are the baskerville (which is what Ben is wearing in the picture) or the ultra baskerville. These muzzles ensure that the dog can pant and drink whilst wearing it. I have also cut a hole in the front of Ben's muzzle now, so I can give him treats.

A New Tactic

I generally walk Ben off lead on an old pit site local to me, its been turned into a country park but it is not officially open yet. It is very quiet early in the morning and during the day on week days so I go there quite often, plus you can easily see well ahead and change route to avoid other dogs if necessary. Last week I took Ben there and we were having a good walk, the sun was shining albeit a little chilly. A husky type dog appeared from no where, I couldn't see an owner anywhere. This is a breed that Ben always gets quite stressed around for some reason. The dog went right up to him sniffing him. Ben tensed up and his tail went all stiff, I know this means he is not happy in the situation.

I shouted his name and started running away from Ben and the other dog. Ben followed me straight away and forgot about the other dog. The other dog followed briefly but soon lost interest. I gave Ben some tasty treats I always carry with me and all was well. He did go slightly over threshold as he tensed up but it was much better than him growling/lunging. And in that situation there was not much else I could have done. I am taking this as a success though, because in the past he has gone from 0-60 within seconds! But I had time to think about the best thing to do to keep Ben as stress free as possible

I want to use this technique more often as I think it shows Ben he can just move away from the other dog if he feels worried, and come to me. He needs to have trust in me that I will protect him and I think doing this will help with that too.

Here is a picture of Ben posing at this country park;